Johann Hennings

Johann Hennings († around 1660/62 probably Heide ) was a carver in Schleswig-Holstein, however, where no plant can be clearly allocated.

Life

Nothing is known about Johann Hennings' origins. It is only documented that he had a daughter, although the name of his wife is also unknown. It is possible that "Lukas Hennings Schnitger", traceable in Heide between 1667 and 1672, is his son.

There is evidence that Hennings worked as a master carver in Heide from 1639, but most likely earlier. It is also documented there in the years 1641, 1651, 1654 and 1659. The evidence includes a contract that he signed with an apprentice for the "table and picture carver craft". In addition, there is a transfer record that proves that he owned his own house. His name can be found for the last time in Tönning's marriage register . It can be seen from this that "Hebcke, left daughter of the honorable Henning Johanns, resident and sculptor in Heyde" married an Oldens word on March 16, 1663. Johann Hennings had therefore died earlier.

Research on work

Early art historians, especially Karl Stork, equated Hennings with a "M [eiste] r Henning Bildthawern". This was to be found in the invoices of the church of Hennstedt and had created a pulpit there. Based on stylistic comparisons, Stork assumed that Hennings had created numerous other works, the most important piece being the altar of the Rendsburg Marienkirche . Stork's attributions were accompanied by linguistic problems: the woodcarver from Heide called himself "Hennings" instead of "Henning", and his master's title should have been followed by a first name. Since Stork found a person named "Johann Hennings" in invoices from the Rendsburg Marienkirche, which came from the time the altar was built, his findings were generally recognized. In addition, the works of art were created at a time that harmonized perfectly with Henning's documented life data.

Wilhelm Johnsen corrected Stock in 1952 to the effect that "Johann Hennings", named in Rendsburg, was merely a timber supplier. He identified the "Henning Bildthawer" run in Hennstedt as Henning Claussen . Only the entry in Tönning's wedding register could be an indication of taking over Stork's attributions. However, since all written documents on Henning's life data contradicted Stork's attribution, Johnsen's findings were adopted and the work was reassigned to Clausen. Johnsen had previously dealt with another carver and his successor who worked in Dithmarschen in the mid-17th century. Since there was no evidence of other carvers of this time, he referred to them as "Masters of Weddingstedter Baptism" and "Masters of Weddingstedter Bojegestühls". After proving that Johann Hennings had been exchanged for Henning Clausen, he suggested that the unknown people from Dithmarschen were Johann Hennings and his son Lukas. This thesis was obviously not discussed further and also not supported by other historians. Therefore, Johann Hennings can no longer be found in new Schleswig-Holstein inventory lists.

literature

• Henning, Johan . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 16 : Hansen – Heubach . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1923, p. 407 .
• Karl Stork: Johann Hennings, a sculptor Dithmarschen in the 17th century; Contributions to Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony art history of the baroque (=  contributions to local history and welfare studies . Volume 11 ). Robert Noske University Press, Borna / Leipzig 1932 (Stork mixed the people Johann Hennings and Henning Claussen when assigning the works).
• Dieter Lohmeier: Hennings, Johann von. In: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck. Volume 6, Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982, ISBN 3-529-02646-8 , pp. 123-124.